The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Times features complaints that reviews of Matsec examination papers have not been completed before resits.
The Malta Independent reports how tenor Joseph Calleja on Saturday ruled Britannia and the Proms.
l-orizzont reports that Richard Cachia Caruana and Frank Portelli had a meeting at a hotel yesterday. It says Dr Portelli had a leading role for the PN in the last general election, and the government is currently in talks to rent Dr Portelli’s hospital.
In-Nazzjon leads with yesterday’s comments by the prime minister that the PN’s vision is about the creation of better quality jobs.
The overseas press
Kathemerini reports that the leaders of the three parties in Greece’s coalition government have agreed to meet again on Wednesday after they failed to agree a package of spending cuts worth €11.5 billion. Socialist Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Left have insisted that Greece’s international creditors give the country more time to implement the spending cuts. Conservative Premier Antonis Samaras will today meet the creditors’ representatives and, on Tuesday, with European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, in Frankfurt.
France 24 says President François Hollande has unveiled a two-year economic recovery plan that involves strict budget targets and €20 billion in new taxes, including a promised 75 per cent wealth tax on those making more than €1 million annually. He announced his government was lowering its growth forecast and tightening up on spending and pledged to stem the rise in unemployment within a year.
Results from five geographical constituencies in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council elections indicate the pro-democracy camp has won 18 seats and the pro-Beijing camp 17. RTHK says about 53 per cent of 3.4 million registered voters cast their ballots, an increase on the 45.2 per cent in the last election in 2008.
L’Avvenire reports Pope Benedict has called for dialogue and reconciliation in the Middle East as he prepares to visit Lebanon at the end of this week. The pontiff told pilgrims his three-day trip to Lebanon, and by extension to the whole of the Middle East, was taking place under the sign of peace. He called also urged the international community to support peace efforts.
According to Al Zaman, a day of violence across Iraq has left more than 100 people dead and at least a hundred others wounded. The worst violence was in the capital Baghdad, where a number of Shite suburbs were hit by car bombs. The attacks came after a court sentenced the fugitive vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death in his absence on murder charges.
And al bawaba reports that at least 17 people have been killed and 40 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in Syria’s largest city Aleppo. Syrian state television showed pictures of destroyed buildings and rescue workers pulling people from the rubble.
Palestinian officials say Israeli warplanes have carried out at least three airstrikes against targets in the Gaza strip. Al Ayyam quotes health officials saying at least two children were injured in Rafat. Reports said one of the airstrikes in Gaza city target a Hamas training site.
L’Essor reports the government of Mali has ordered an inquiry after 16 suspected Islamists, including several from Mauritania, were shot to death at a checkpoint in the country's central region. Military officials initially asserted that Malian troops opened fire after fearing the men were jihadists controlling the north of the West African nation. The dead were unarmed.
Global Post says a seven-year-old girl shot and injured in an attack in the French Alps which left her parents dead has been brought out of a coma. French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said Zainab al-Hilli was still under sedation and would not be able to be questioned for several more days. Her four-year-old sister Zeena has returned to the UK. She lay undiscovered for eight hours after her parents, a woman thought to be her grandmother and a local cyclist died in Wednesday's attack in Chevaline.
El Universal reports the defeated candidate in Mexico's presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has announced he was leaving his left-wing coalition to form a new political movement. Speaking to tens of thousands of his supporters in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador said he would focus on changing Mexico through the new group, Morena. He has refused to accept the results of the latest presidential election, saying it was corrupt.
Huffington Post says Dorothy McGuire Williamson, who teamed with sisters Christine and Phyllis for a string of hits in the 50s and 60s as the popular McGuire Sisters singing group, has died. She was 84. The McGuire Sisters earned six gold records for hits including 1954's "Sincerely" and 1957's "Sugartime". The sisters were known for their sweet harmonies and identical outfits and hairdos.
Christian Post announces a Bible which once belonged to Elvis Presley and contains his handwritten notes and thoughts has sold for £59,000 (€74,000) at an auction in England. Omega Auctions said the Bible, given to the singer on his first Christmas at his home in Graceland in 1957, was bought by an American man based in Britain. It had been used by Presley until his death on August 16, 1977.
The owner of a Pizza shop in Florida surprised President Obama when he lifted him off the ground after giving him a huge hug. Florida Post says Obama told Scott Van Duzer, a tall muscular man, that he was the biggest pizza shop owner he’d ever seen. The president said he visited the pizza parlour during his campaign tour because Van Duzer had been encouraging blood donors in his community.
The 2012 Paralympic Games have ended after a spectacular ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in London. The BBC reports acrobats and dancers performed to music from the UK band Coldplay and other artists in what was described as “a festival of fire”. Declaring the games closed, International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven, described them as the greatest games ever held. China topped the medals list with 231, of which 95 were gold. Russia was second with 102 (36 gold) and Britain 120 (34).